Brush dressing attachment for paint cans



Jan. 10, 1956 D. J. COYURSEY 2,730,266

BRUSH DRESSING ATTACHMENT FOR PAINT CANS Filed Sept. 18, 1953 5 5 I J I q g7- .3 I

H z z I I 1 I :zlumilhTi llllllll! j United States Patent 2,730,266 BRUSH DRESSING ATTAgHMENT FOR PAINT CAN Dallas J. Coursey, Chicago, Ill. Application September 18, 1953, Serial No. 381,100 1 Claim. (Cl. 220-90) When painting with a brush it is customary to dress the brush, after each dipping into the paint, by removing excess paint before applying the brush to the surface to be coated. This dressing is commonly done by pressing one side of the brush against the inner edge of the can rim and drawing the brush lengthwise, thus wiping paint from such side and permitting it to flow back into the can. This specific practice is wasteful of paint because most of the paint is deposited on the vertical wall of the can, and a considerable part thereof remains there and thickens, instead of flowing back into the main body of paint. Such thickened paint is no longer useful and so is wasted. Furthermore, some of the more or less solidified paint may drop down into fresh paint in the can and become a nuisance. Also, dressing is not uniform because the brush is drawn over a curved, instead of a straight, edge.

Although various attachments for paint can have heretofore been proposed to provide means for overcoming the faults just mentioned, I know of none that is entirely satisfactory.

It is therefore my purpose to make available a brush dressing device that is very simple and inexpensive, that can be supplied to and removed from a paint can very quickly, that is securely held in place while on a can, that is very durable and long lived, that can be kept clean by simply wiping the paint off after each painting period; and that provides a firm, straight edge for contact with a brush, prevents paint from dripping onto the can wall as it is squeezed from the brush, and does not interfere with the dipping of the brush into the paint in the can in the usual way.

The various features of novelty whereby the present invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claim but, for a full understanding of the invention, its objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a round paint can or pail having one of my improved attachments thereon;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, A is a conventional receptacle for paints whether it be a can or pail, and to which I shall hereinafter refer as a can. B is a conventional rim and C is a conventional, external bead at the top of the can.

In its preferred form the present invention consists of two pieces of wire, preferably more or less resilient, formed into a ring member and a tie or bar member, respectively, cooperating with each other. form illustrated, and which will be described in detail hereinafter.

Referring to the drawing, 1 is a ring formed of steel wire which, for use on a one gallon can, may be about one eighth inch in diameter. The wire is sufiiciently long to form a complete ring and an additional amount to be bent into two loops 2, 2 which may be alike. Each loop is collapsed to create a stem 3 composed of two legs arranged side by side in contact with each other, while at the closed end of each loop there is left a round eye 4. These loops are placed at opposite sides of the point of division in the ring, namely, the point where the two ends of the wire meet; and they are spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the width of the widest brush with which the device is to be used. For house painting, for example, most of the painting is usually done with four inch brushes.

The stems project from the ring transversely of the plane of the latter and from the same side of such plane. The stems are bent sharply to bring the eyes into a plane parallel to that of the ring with a spacing of a half inch or thereabout between these planes.

Therefore, when the ring is expanded and snapped onto the upper end of the can, lying under and in contact with the usual bead C around the top of the latter, the eyes 4 overhang and stand well above the rim B.

The second element of the device is a bar 5 which may be formed of the same kind of wire from which the ring is made. This bar is hingedly connected to one of the eyes and has a detachable connection, preferably of the camming type, with the second eye. The first or permanent connection is simply an eye 6 on the bar that is hooked into the cooperating eye 4 while partially open, and which is then closed, as shown. The connection at the other end of the bar is effected, by providing the bar with a hook 7 for insertion in the second stationary eye 4, the hook being so shaped that when it is pressed into the cooperating eye it places the bar under a substantial tension; the stems 2 also being stressed to exert a pull on the end portions of the ring to contract the ring until it is tight on the can. Thus stems 2 constitute resilient links in the tie between the two end portions of the ring.

The two ends of the ring may contact each other when not in use on a can, but there is preferably a small gap It is evident that it is but the work a moment to apply the device to or detach it from a can.

to prevent paint from dripping onto the side of the can when a brush is paint.

In the use of the device paint does not collect on the bar as it does on the side of a can when the can rim is made to serve as a brush dressing edge. This is due to the fact that the constant wiping of the brush across the bar does not permit the paint to thicken and dry thereon. Consequently, the bar need only be wiped clean at the end of each painting period or, if desired, the entire attachment may be taken off and dropped into any usual or suitable cleaning bath.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not intend to be limited to the exact details thus illustrated A brush dressing attachment for a paint can comprising a wire formed into a ring with the ends of the wire free, the ring being provided on each end portion with a loop disposed at a substantial distance from the extreme end, References Qitedin the file of this patent each loop comprising a stern portion, transverse to the UNITED S PATENTS plane of the ring and on the same side of such plane,

and an eye on the stern portion remote from and parallel 6421346 Madlen 301 1900 to said plane, and a bar having atone end a hinge con- 5 1'017753 Harnson 1912 nection with one of said eyes and having at the other 1,994,335 Churan 121 1935 end a hook to engage the second eye and cause the ba1 2,219,617 Brougham 1940 2,466,850 Hoffman et al Apr. 12, 1949 to hold the ring against expansion. 7

2,647,658 Sievern Aug. 4, 1953 

